Safety railing fob elevated



M y 1954 D. c. MATHIAS ET AL SAFETY RAILING FOR ELEVATED PLATFORMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 25, 1951 m wmm M mwm, 0 M1 8 .0 M wak Mm w OF w h v\ Q m y 8; 1954 D. c. MATHIAS a r/u. 2,673,610

SAFETY RAILING FOR ELEVATED PLATFORMS Filed Sept. 25, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 David 6. Mathias Frank/in 0. L owl/bar IN VEN TORS.

Patented May 18, 1954 SAFETY RAILING FOR ELEVATED PLATFORMS David C. Mathias, St. Albans, and Franklin D. Lowther, Belle, W. Va.

Application September 25, 1951, Serial No. 248,178

Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in railings for elevated platforms of shuttle equipment for servicing coke batteries, loading docks, charging platforms and similar equipment where the use of a stationary railing is impracticable.

An important object of the invention is to provide a cable railing constructed to by-pass the railing from one side of the carriage of the shuttle equipment to the other during its movement along the platform to prevent interference with the servicing operation by the railing.

Another object is to provide automatically raising and lowering posts for the cable railing "moved into a lowered position by the approach of the carriage and equipped with counterweights to raise the posts after passage of the carriage.

A further object is to provide counterweight cable tightening means for the. cable railing;

A still further object is to provide an apparatus of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efiicient and reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view;

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on a line 3--3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of one of the post depressing rollers;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on a line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevational view of one of the posts showing the railing supporting bracket open;

Figure 7 is a similar view showing the bracket folded against the post, and

Figure 8 is an enlarged perspective view of one group of by-passing pulleys for the railing.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration we have disclosed a preferred embodiment of our invention, the numeral 5 designates a platform of a type used in the servicing of coke batteries, loading docks and similar industrial equipment, and having tracks 6 at the sides of the platform on which the wheels 1 of a carriage 8 travel, which carriage constitutes a movable workmans stand for servicing shuttle equipment and the like.

'carriage'.

Stationary posts 9 are fixed at the ends of the platform at the outer rail of the track and upper and lower pulleys I0 and l I are supported on one of the posts. Upper and lower cables or flexible railings I2 and I3 are attached at one end to the other of said stationary posts and sextend downwardly over the pulleys l0 and ii and are attached to counter-weights, or other suitable tension devices to take up slack in the cables.

Each front corner of the carriage 8 is provided with an upper pulley [6 supported on a bracket I1 and over which the upper cable rail ing I2 is trained to guide the latter downwardly at each end of the carriage and a lower pulley [8 over which the lower cable railing I3 is trained to also extend downwardly at each end of th A pair of pulleys l9 and 20 are also supported at each front corner of the carriage below the pulleys l6 and [8 to receive and guide "the respective upper and lower cable railings longitudinally under the bottom of the carriage for by-passing'the railings to each end of the carriage, as the latter travels back'and forth on the platform to thus remove the railings from the front of the carriage.

The cable railings are also; supported on one or more collapsible posts 2| which are pivoted adjacent their lower ends to the outermost track 6 for vertical swinging movement. A pulley 22 is supported on the upper portion of post 2| for the upper cable railing l2 and a swinging-bracknet 23 supports lower cable railing l3 and is pivoted to a side of post 2| by a pin 24 to swinginwardly and outwardly at the inner edge of said post.

Bracket 23 is composed of a pair of spaced apart plates 25 positioned at opposite sides of the post and are of substantially triangular shape to provide horizontal upper edges 26 and outer or rear edges 21 sloping inwardly toward the bottom of the plates. A guide lug 28 unites the rear edges of the plates and rises from the outer or rear edge of the bracket to hold the lower cable railing l3 on the upper edge 26 thereof, as shown in Figure 5.

A stop 29 is attached to the post 2| and is engaged by the lower edge of the bracket to limit its outward swinging movement.

Post depressing rollers 39 are supported at the outer ends of arms 3| which project outwardly at each end of the carriage and which strike the collapsible post to swing the latter downwardly out of the path of the carriage. Each roller 30 is formed with a flange 32 which rides against the rear sloping edge 21 of bracket 23 to swing the latter inwardly against the post, into the position shown in Figure 7, to prevent interference with the carriage.

Weights 33 at the lower ends of the post 2| return the posts to an upright position after passage of the carriage.

In the operation of the device; the cable railings l2 and I3 are guided under the carriage by the pulleys at each end thereof as it travels back and forth on the tracks 6 of the platform to thus remove the railings from the front of the carriage.

In View of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what claimed as new is:

1. In a servicing platform, the combination of a carriage mounted to travel along the platform, a flexible guard railing including at least one cable disposed above said platform along the length thereof, fixed, upright end posts at the ends of said platform, at least one intermediate post pivotally mounted on said platform, said cable being attached at its ends to said end posts and being guidingly supported by said intermediate post, said carriage being movable along to the end Walls of the carriage above the base of the carriage and directing an intermediate portion of the cable underneath the carriage as the carriage is moved along the platform, means on said carriage pivoting said intermediate post under, the carriage and means returning said intermediate post to its upright position after passage of the carriage thereover.

cable disposed above said platform along the length thereof, fixed, upright end posts at the ends of said platform, at least one intermediate post pivotally mounted on said platform, said cable being attached at its ends to said end posts and being guidingly supported by said intermediate post, said carriage being movable along said platform between said end posts, means on said carriage guidingly attaching portions of the cable to the end walls of the carriage above the base of the carriage and directing an intermediate portion of the cable underneath the carriage as the carriage is moved along the platform, means on said carriage pivoting said intermediate post under the carriage and means returning said intermediate post to its upright position after'passage of the carriage thereover, one of said cable ends extending movably over one end post, and a weight suspended from said one cable end tensioning said cable throughout its length.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said guidingly attaching means includes first guide sheaves mounted on the end Walls of the carriage above the base of the carriage, and second guide sheaves disposed adjacent the base of the carriage. V

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said intermediate post is pivoted intermediate its upper and lower ends to said platform, said returning means comprising a counterweight on the lower end of said intermediate post. 7

5. In a servicing platform including a carriage movable therealong, upright end posts fixedly mounted at the ends of the platform along one edgethereof, a flexible guard railing including at least one cable extending along and above said platform and attached to said end posts, means attached to one end of the cable retaining a predetermined tension on said cable, at least one intermediate post swingably mounted on said platform, said cable being guidingly supported on said intermediate post, means on said carriage guidingly attaching portions of the cable to the end Walls of the carriage above the base of the carriage and directing an intermediate portion of the cable underneath the carriage as the carriage is moved along the platform, means on said carriage swinging said intermediate post underneath the carriage as the carriage is moved thereover and means returning the intermediate post to its upright position upon passage of the carriage thereover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 291,144 -Brown Jan. 1, 1884 559,271 Elmer Apr. 28, 1896 

